Jill Biden

Jill Biden
Official portrait, 2023
First Lady of the United States
In role
January 20, 2021 – January 20, 2025
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byMelania Trump
Succeeded byMelania Trump
Second Lady of the United States
In role
January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017
Vice PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byLynne Cheney
Succeeded byKaren Pence
Personal details
Born
Jill Tracy Jacobs

(1951-06-03) June 3, 1951
Hammonton, New Jersey, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
  • Bill Stevenson
    (m. 1970; div. 1975)
  • (m. 1977)
ChildrenAshley Biden
RelativesBiden family
EducationUniversity of Delaware (BA, EdD)
West Chester University (MEd)
Villanova University (MA)
Signature
Academic background
ThesisStudent Retention at the Community College: Meeting Students' Needs (2006)
Academic work
InstitutionsDelaware Technical Community College
Northern Virginia Community College

Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden[1][2] (born June 3, 1951) is an American educator who served as the first lady of the United States from 2021 to 2025 as the second wife of President Joe Biden. She was second lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 when her husband was vice president. From 2009 to 2024 she was a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College. She was the first wife of a president to hold a salaried job during the majority of her husband's tenure[3][4][5][a] and the first to carry on with her professional career outside the White House while being a first lady.[7]

Born in Hammonton, New Jersey, Jacobs grew up in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. In 1977, she married Joe Biden, a widower, and became the stepmother of Beau and Hunter. Biden and her husband also have a daughter, Ashley Biden, born in 1981. Biden has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Delaware and master's degrees in education and English from West Chester University and Villanova University. She returned to the University of Delaware and received a doctoral degree in education. She taught English and reading in high schools for thirteen years and instructed adolescents with emotional disabilities at a psychiatric hospital. Following this, she was an English and writing instructor for fifteen years at Delaware Technical & Community College.

Biden is the founder of the Biden Breast Health Initiative non-profit organization, co-founder of the Book Buddies program, co-founder of the Biden Foundation, is active in Delaware Boots on the Ground, and with Michelle Obama is co-founder of Joining Forces. She has published a memoir and two children's books.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference 8aug22 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Meet the First Ladies of the U.S." First Ladies National Historic Site. Archived from the original on June 2, 2025. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference pol-nov2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference usa-dec2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ind-dec2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Bernstein 2007, p. 6.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference ap-dec2024 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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